Counting in 2s, 5s and 10s (and 3s!)

The NC for Year 1 lists counting on or back in 2s, 5s and 10s - the next step after counting confidently in 1s. So I thought I'd challenge the girls and see how they coped with the idea.

As they can count up to 100, I started with counting in 10s as it seemed the simplest. The twins are both logical and visual in their learning, so it was simple to just write the numbers 1-10 down the whiteboard and then next to each number write the multiple of 10. After the first few, the pattern became obvious and they were able to tell me what needed to go next in order to get to 100 in 10s. They found it amusing how simple it was since I began by telling them they were going to do something really difficult by counting in 10s! I think the humour helped it to stick in their heads too. 😊 We did a few chanting games altogether, alternating filling in what went next orally by going round our circle of 3, and then they pretty much had counting in 10s sorted.

Another day, we looked at counting in 2s. I introduced the concept using their multilink cubes, so they had 10 cubes each which they counted and then had to group into 2s. Then we counted the cubes together in 2s and confirmed there were still 10. We did this with a few different toys over the next couple of days, e.g. small animals, Duplo, etc., increasing the total to 20 objects. One of them commented counting in 2s was just missing out a number, which I thought was a good observation!

That comment prompted me to print them out a couple of 100 Squares so they could see the pattern visually, as I thought it might help cement the idea in their heads: 

It's pretty self-explanatory what we did. 😛 I needed to supervise just to keep them on track but they managed the task ok. After the first few lines of 2s they noticed the pattern was just lines going down the page, so I prompted them to predict what the next line would look like. After about half the square, they were sure they just wanted to colour straight lines to fill in the rest, so I let them. 😂 Then we counted through the whole square in 2s, using their finger on the squares and making sure they counted one then missed one, just to check it was all correct. Then they did the 10s, which was quick and easy, and again we counted through them just to check. We also pointed out that all numbers end in 0 when counting in 10s.

After a break of a week or so, we repeated the process with 5s over a few days: doing it physically by grouping objects and pictures, chanting and singing and playing games verbally, then colouring in the pattern on a 100 square. This was helpful again in seeing all the numbers ended with 5 or 0 and alternated between 5 and 0.

Because I'd printed the sheets with 2 squares on them, we needed something to do on the bottom 100 square - so I asked them what they wanted to try counting in... just for fun. Thankfully, they said 3s! They needed to concentrate a bit more for this as we hadn't done any previous work on 3s. It was a little more challenging at first, but they soon got the hang of counting one then missing two so it was good concentration practise to get to 99! They were also happy to see the pattern at around the halfway mark and were able to use it to correct themselves if they made a mistake. 👍 No expectation for them to count in 3s at this stage! But I thought the activity was a good learning experience in stretching the mathematical side of their brains. 😁

Target Sheets

Some laminated posters I made to put on display, which we change as often as we need to: just use a whiteboard marker and a cloth!

Having our current focus on the wall acts as a reminder both for me and my kids - sometimes inspiration for an activity strikes when I least expect it, just because that constant reminder is there...

I've noticed the girls look at the targets randomly throughout the day; sometimes they choose to copy the sentences on scrap paper for fun... and they both get excited when it gets changed to something new. 😀

I wanted to include Islam so they know from the beginning our religion is of no less importance to the standard core subjects. And that learning about it can be just as fun. 💗

Download a digital copy here. (Download icon in top right corner: fonts display differently in actual Word file as opposed to in Google)

What's the Story's Ending?

Like most 4 year olds, the girls have been having stories read to them for years so they're well aware of what a story is. I explained to them that all stories have the same 3 parts to them: a beginning, a middle and an ending.

For some reason I thought the ending was the easiest to explain, so we started by exploring those. 😂

Together, we picked out 4 books from their book box. They chose Tappity-Tap! What Was That?, The Star of the Zoo, Where's Spot? and Squirrel's Autumn Search. These are all books they had read often and so were familiar with.

I wrote the title at the top of an A4 piece of paper and split each side in half. Then the girls wrote the title of the first book at the top (handwriting practise and a copying exercise!)

Since the books were all so short I decided to read the book, discuss what they thought the ending was, help them write the ending's summary on their paper, then repeat the process with the next book. For the first two, they took turns to dictate to me what they wanted to write. For the last two, I wrote the title and they had to summarise the ending themselves (with help, of course!). I decided to let them try spelling everything themselves, then read through their work with them and showed them the correct spelling - with praise for trying even if they didn't quite get it right! Finally, they had the option to draw a picture at the bottom. They got bored after the first two so I didn't force them to draw pictures for the final two. 😛

Arabic Vocab - Parts of the Face

One of the sessions at our local Arabic club was to do with the parts of the face, where they learnt the vocab and made the craft in the middle (felt tips, googly eyes and a pompom!). When we got home I typed up the words in a large font, cut them out and got the girls to stick them down as labels on their pictures.

Simple recap activity. 😄

Download the template here.

100 Square Template

Sometimes you just want a simple resource, like a plain 100 Square, for free (!) but it takes more effort to find online than to just make it yourself. 😑

So I made one myself and you can download an editable copy here, if you like. 👍

Useful for all sorts of Numeracy work, e.g. addition, subtraction, patterns (times tables), etc. The first one is shaded in to make it easier for using as e.g. a number line; the second one is plain white for colouring in and finding patterns, etc. I laminated my shaded ones for repeated use with the girls.

99 Names of Allah - 02 - Ar-Rahmaan - The All-Merciful

[02] اَلرَّحْمَانُ (Ar-Rahmaan): The All Merciful

[Download resources here]

Sing 99 Names (5min)
Play PowerPoint of the first 33 names, 2-3 times, for children to join in singing along to. Everyone stands up and joins in action for Ar-Rahmaan: hands crossed over chest to hug your own arms.

Today’s focus is on the name Ar-Rahmaan.

Story relating to today's name (10min)

Use puppets/soft toys to act out as a play:

“Once upon a time there was a little mouse who loved to play games. He was playing in the jungle one day when he saw a sleeping lion. ‘I know!’ thought the mouse, ‘I can have fun by tickling that lion so he wakes up, then I’ll run away quickly before he can catch me!’ The little mouse crept sneakily towards the lion and scampered naughtily all over the lion’s back, tickling him with his toes and his tail. Just as the mouse was about to jump down… suddenly the lion rolled over and caught the mouse between his big paws! ‘You cheeky little mouse!’ he roared, ‘Since you woke me up, I’m going to EAT you up!’ ‘Oh no!’ cried the mouse, ‘Please have mercy on me! Don’t eat me! If you let me go then maybe one day I can help you out too!’ The lion laughed loudly, ‘How could a teeny tiny mouse ever help a big strong lion like me? But you made me laugh so I will be merciful and let you go.’ So the lion opened his paws and the mouse ran away into the jungle. A few days later, the mouse heard the lion roaring, ‘Help me! Help me!’ Quickly, the mouse ran towards the sound and saw the lion had been caught in a hunter’s net! ‘I didn’t like how you made fun of me before, but don’t worry,’ said the mouse to the lion. ‘Just as you showed me mercy and let me go, I will have mercy on you.’ And the little mouse gnawed at the ropes until the lion was free.”

What do you think mercy is? Being kind to someone who needs help. Was the lion right to be angry at the mouse? Yes, but he still let the mouse go. Did the mouse have to help the lion? No, but he chose to be kind and not ignore him, even though he didn’t like being made fun of.

Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (10min)

Ar-Rahmaan means The All Merciful. Allah is kind and merciful to everyone and everything – people, plants and animals – more than anyone or anything you can think of in the whole world! Who do you know who is kind and helpful? E.g. parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, police, shopkeepers.

Stick up key points (from the resources, e.g. mounted on card) as you discuss:

Allah has so much compassion, He is merciful to us whether we deserve it or not. Imagine you were on the swing and you told your brother/sister not to come in front in case they get hit, but they were being silly and jumped in front anyway, you kicked them by accident and your mum got cross at you for kicking them – would you still feel like hugging them and seeing if they were ok? Was it their own fault they got hurt? Even if we make a mistake and do something naughty, Allah will always be merciful to us. Allah’s mercy never runs out.

Allah’s mercy is so perfect, He helps us without expecting anything in return. Do you know how sometimes you get a nice warm feeling from helping other people? How being kind to someone else can make you feel happy too? Or how you might help your mum tidy up because you know you’ll get a big hug for doing it? Allah is kind and helps us simply because he’s the All Merciful and He’s doing it just for us, not for Himself at all.

Craft activity (20min)

Paint the heart and sprinkle glitter over the wet paint. Leave to dry while colouring in the world and Allah’s name & meaning. Cut out “Ar-Rahmaan” & “The All Merciful” and glue next to the heart. Cut the world out and glue on top of the heart.

                                      

Explain this will become page 1 in our book of Allah’s names to keep in the folder they made the front cover for last time.

When to use this name (10min)

When might we use this name to talk to Allah? When we want Allah to be merciful to us/we want someone to show us kindness when we make a mistake or need help.

Allah loves it when we show mercy to others too. The more we’re merciful to others, the more mercy Allah will show to us! Can you think of a time you’ve shown someone (or something! Maybe an insect/animal?) mercy, or something you could do in the future?

What does the name Ar-Rahmaan make you feel about Allah? Help the children to write this on the back of the page, along with any other thoughts they may have.

Sticker chart (5min)

Ask individually: Which of Allah’s names did we learn today? What does it mean? Give children a sticker each for their chart.

Smarties and Zakat!

Continuing our topic on the five pillars of Islam, we did a nice cross-curricular lesson on zakat - along with Arabic and Numeracy. 😁

To begin, I prepared a load of Smarties to represent money; the twins needed to "work" to earn money. Their work was answering (verbally, although you could do this as a written exercise if you wanted) questions to do with Arabic, e.g. "What letter does 'shams' (sun) start with?" "What does 'daairah' (circle) mean?" "How do you say 'the dog is in the room'?" "What is 'waahid' (one) plus 'waahid'?" etc etc. When they got a question correct I paid them in Smarties (sometimes one, sometimes more depending on how tough the question was) until they had a total of 40 Smarties between them (because I'm a perfectionist and wanted the 2.5%... Though I didn't tell them that detail 😂).

They looked at their 40 Smarties and we discussed how rich they were, etc. Then I simplistically explained zakat in terms of charity we HAVE to give - because Allah blessed us with wealth to begin with and some of it isn't ours, it belongs to Allah, but He's so kind WE get to choose which charity we want to give it to! - and asked them to guess how much money/many Smarties they think they HAVE to give as zakat. One guessed 9, the other 12 - so it was the perfect reaction when they discovered it was only 1. 😆 Not much at all yet it makes the rest of our money even better and cleaner (Smarties tastier!) So they gave the 1 to their little sister. 💕

We practised Numeracy by dividing the 39 left equally between the two of them... The 1 remainder led into a discussion about sadaqah, and our choice to give extra charity if we wish, so they gave that to their sister too... 💕💕

End of lesson: eat the Smarties! And if they wanted milk they had to ask for it in Arabic. 😜

They don't have sweets often so the idea was the excitement and novelty would make the lesson more memorable. You could always substitute for any other treat of your choice, though. And if you don't have children to divide between, you could link the topic with e.g. days of the week practise and divide by however many days they're allowed to eat their treat over (because let's face it, 40 odd Smarties in one go is a lot! 19 is passable as a one off... lol).